I think it's difficult to make a romantic comedy. No, wait check that, I meant to say, I think it's very difficult to make a good romantic comedy, especially one that a guy will be able to watch without attempting to strangle himself (One good step is to not cast Kate Hudson or Brittany Murphy). There are lots of romantic comedies that come out, seemingly one every other week, but few of them are actually of any note whatsoever. So when there is something that is good, that manages to strike all those familiar notes and yet not seem so glaringly ridiculous, it's good to take note of it. The 1999 Japanese movie MESSENGERS is just such a movie.
It is your basic fish-out-of-water scenario about Naomi Shimizu, an advertising executive, who accidentally strikes a Yokota, owner of a fledgling bicycle messenger company called Tokyo Express, and puts him in the hospital, unable to ride. In order to avoid jail, Naomi agrees to take Yokota's place at Tokyo Express alongside his friend (and only other messenger) Suzuki. Together, Suzuki and Naomi, along with a cast of colorful secondary characters help Tokyo Express to thrive. But there's an Evil Messenger Service that uses motorcycles and they are determined to put Tokyo Express out of business. Meanwhile, as Naomi and Suzuki clearly show signs of (vigorously denied) affection for each other, there's an opportunity for Naomi to leave Tokyo Express and return to the glamour life.
Sublimely gorgeous and vibrantly engaging Naoko Iijima, a former fashion model plays the Naomi, the girl accustomed to $200/bottle Krug champagne and designer wardrobes reduced to riding a bicycle and delivering packages all day. Were she not so charismatic and her personality not so engaging, her character's constant whining and tantrums would be irritating, yet she exudes a lovability that goes beyond just her physical beauty. And she handles the transformation from wealthy socialite to working girl (no, not in THAT sense) with the ease of Claudette Colbert (in IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT). It's up to her to carry the movie, for if we dislike her for a moment, the enjoyment of the film fails. Fortunately, she does it well.
Playing opposite her is Tsuyoshi Kusanagi as the hard-edged, stoic Suzuki, who obviously expects her to quit at any moment but grows to fall in love with her. His refusal to acknowledge how he feels, even though it grows increasingly obvious to all, is key to the emotional tension that propels the film.
Most romantic comedies are elevated by the antics of the secondary characters. Here, too, MESSENGERS does well. There's the bleached blonde, former motorcycle messenger, the wacky, clueless Yokota the owner of Tokyo Express, Yokota's naive girlfriend, retired traffic policeman, and the somewhat manic head of the competing motorcycle delivery company.
Director Yasuo Baba takes full advantage of the strength of his actors, letting them act freely on screen. The chemistry between all the principles is palpable and you feel like they could all be friends in real life. When there is the requisite breaking-away moment, it's heart-wrenching, which makes for a strong reunion (natch).
The story is straightforward and the movie breezes through it quickly. One scene flows into the next and the moment you stop laughing from a humorous moment, you'll be smiling at the next nice or sweet moment. It's sitcom-esque with how it plays with some of the slapstickish humor yet has a very strong emotional center, which never gets too far off. Though it is a romance, the majority of the film is about refusing to admit to it, and thus it never gets bogged down in saccharine, sickly sweetness.
The rich girl cum cyclist gives lots of humorous material to work with and the movie does well with it, whether it's Naomi falling over because she can't free her toeclips as she comes to a stop or her misunderstanding of Suzuki giving her a place to stay (paraphrasing: "There are rules. You can't just cut to the chase, you have to buy me three nice dinners first!"). The humor works best here, not because it is so original (it's not), but because the tone of the film, the charisma of the actors, and the pace of the film put you in an already good mood. At the end of the film, as the credits run, we have an odd rap video starring the principals of the movie ("Rakusho-Rakusho"?), which is cute and fun enough to sit thru and watch.
MESSENGERS is not an original movie. It's fairly direct and predictable, following the recipe of the typical romantic comedy, yet doing so with the best of ingredients and creating a wonderful entree.
Running time is a quick 118min.
Video is a nice anamorphic 1.85
Audio is DD5.1 Japanese
Subtitles are in English.
So far, this is only available as Japanese Region 2 DVD, but fortunately, it has been priced down to 2500Y (about $23, cheap by Japanese DVD standards).
Here's the CDJapan link.
Here's the Pony Canyon link to the movie, including a detailed synopsis, cast bios, etc.
Here is Naoko Iijima's official site (*swoooN*)
Here is Naoko Iijima's Planet (a fansite).
The action in BORN TO FIGHT varies; there are many more stunts than in ONG BAK, some huge fighting tricks, and lots and lots of gymnastics. What's missing is nice fight choreography. The bad guys in BORN TO FIGHT are gun-toting militia-types, which means the danger they pose is on inasmuch as they can pull the trigger to their gun; they are woefully deficient in any hand-to-hand skills. So what we get are baddies who are little more than moving targets for the heroes to showcase their big whirling, spinning, jumping strikes. Which is cool, mind you, but there's no Level-Boss! So we never get a lengthy fight scene, any back-and-forth fighting that escalates over time, no jeopardy in fact. As a result, the fight scenes feel a little less interesting than they could have otherwise. But in defense, the fight scenes have a physicality, an urgency, and a brutality that creates an intensity that we never ever see in Hollywood films. There's a feeling that they are actually just filming hardcore sparring sessions. They follow the Hong Kong tradition of "powdering up" (putting powder on their clothes and shoes) so that you can see them make contact with each other.
If Tony Jaa is the modern day Jackie Chan, then Don Chupong is like a modern day Yuen Biao. He's slighter in build than Tony Jaa, but is more fluid and acrobatically athletic and the movie's action scenes are tailored to his skills; there are less in-close, knee-and-elbow fighting and more acrobatic combat. Unfortunately, there's no single signature action sequence like the Chase Scene from ONG BAK.
Stephen Chow's KUNG FU HUSTLE is available now as 
Disney's 
I've never watched the HANZO THE RAZOR series, but I've heard of them, of course, since he was played by the legendary Shintaro Katsu (ZATOICHI). It's recently been given a nice boxset DVD release by Animeigo (who had previously released the LDs). I'm not so sure it's my kind of film, but interesting to note, anyways.
YesAsia has a 
